The purpose of this trip to Yecora was to try and fine the
Grey-crowned Woodpecker which was seen by Kimball Garrett and his wife
Kathy last December at km 263 on highway 16. Highway 16 runs from
Hermosillo (km 0) to Yecora
(km280) and then on into Chihuahua.

The Grey-crowned Woodpecker had eluded me for years and it was high
on
my want list. To make a long story short I did find the
woodpecker, not at km 263 but at a new location, a few kilometers from
km 263. Details
are in the writeup which follows.

The trip started out not too well with a flat tire at 5:00 AM in the
morning
before I even got the car out of the garage. So In Green Valley
you
wait until 7:30 AM when the gas stations open up to get it fixed.
Three
hours late departing I headed 40 miles south to Nogales where I went
through
customs and headed down highway 15 to Hermosillo. Customs took
about
1 hour 15 minutes to get a new visa and the Sonora only car permit.

Gas in Hermosillo, Mexico is now 3.53 pesos per liter for the green
Magna
and 3.88 pesos per liter for the red Premium. It continues to
rise
monthly a few centavos per liter, I wonder when the price rise will
stop?
The toll road between Nogales and Hermosillo has two toll stations,
both
36 pesos each. (Rate of exchange used at the booths was 8 pesos
per
US Dollar.)

The drive from Nogales to Hermosillo was uneventful with only a
couple of Caracaras along the road (km119, highway 15) to peak my
interest. Driving into Hermosillo take a left at the first stop
light which puts you
on the Periferico Sur bypass on the east side of town.

A few miles down the bypass you will see a large reservoir to the
east side of the road. This can be very good for water type birds
and is
worth a stop if you brought your scope. Near the dam is a good
spot
to look over the area.

Continue south on through town until you see a sign labeled
Chihuahua. Turn left at this point to get on combined highway 20
(to Sahuaripa) and highway
16 (to Yecora). In less than 200 feet the road you want, highway
16
turns right toward Yecora. Watch carefully or you will miss this
turn,
it is not signed very well.

KM72, Rio Matape just before the town of Jose de
Pimas.

The Great Kiskadee pair are back again this year and easy to find
just south of the bridge. The best birding is south of the bridge
and you
can walk quite a distance in and along the river bed. Birding was
also
good north of the bridge for a short distance. This is lower
elevation
birding and can get quite hot during the peak of the day. Get
here
early if you can.

KM168, Rio Yaqui.

This is a large high water volume river even during the dry
season. Since this is a relative new road people have not built
around the rivers edge and it is much as it was years ago with only a
few ranchers in the area.
It is desert here and the land is overgrazed and vegetation is
lacking.
I did find one good spot south of the bridge 1/4 mile. There are
two
canyons running east from the river. Walk the first canyon as far
as
you can and you will find several species using the canyon to keep cool
during
the heat of the day. I was quite surprised to hear not one, but
two
different Buff-collared Nightjars call during the day when I got too
close
to their daytime roost. (Is this normal? Have others heard
them
call in the daytime?) They only called once each. Great Horned
Owl,
Nuttings flycatcher, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, and Plain-capped
Starthroat
were also seen in the canyon. I camped in the canyon on the way
back
home and heard a few more Buff-collared Nightjars, an unknown
goatsucker
calling in the middle of the night, and a Common Nighthawk was seen
feeding
over the river at dusk. The second canyon was not good and should
be
skipped. An interesting sidenote, a lizard that lives here has
adapted
an interesting skill in that it mimmicks a scorpian when it runs.
It
throws its black and white banded tail up over its body and for all
practicle
purposes looks like a scorpian when it runs. Does this deter
preditors
from grabbing it for food? I would think so. Anyone know
the
scientific name of this lizard?

KM189.5 highway 16 at 2200 foot elevation:

An otherwise uninteresting habitat with mesquite, palo verde and a
few cactus provided what was the best bird of the trip. On the
trip back it flew in front of the car showing off its white tipped
tail. I recognized
it right away as an Eastern Kingbird having seen hundreds of them when
I
lived in Decatur, Illinois a few years ago.

Slamming on the brakes, I backed up on the highway until I could see
the
bird resting in one of the scrub trees a couple of hundred feet off of
the
highway. Close study confirmed that the bird had a black cap with
a
brilliant white throat and breast. Once again I had not brought
my
camera, some day I will learn. This may be a first record for the
state
of Sonora?

KM243 exit north toward Santa Rosa on a gravel road,
go 4.0
miles to a large bridge over a flowing creek. (A tributary of the
Rio
Sahuaripa?).

I did most of my birding in this area as the birding was very
good. Returning 1/4 mile toward highway 16 on the gravel road
from the bridge is
where I found the Grey-crowned Woodpecker. Seen from the car in a
tree
less than 30 foot from me I was able to study every feather on the
bird.
A male, he gave his territorial call and another call note that he
makes.
He remained in the tree with no leaves for 2-3 minutes before flying
west
a few hundred feet. I believe the bird was on territory.
This
was at an elevation of 2600 foot.

Walk either direction along the creek from the bridge and you will
see birds everywhere this time of year. The walk upstream has a
good trail
for about 2 miles and eventually ends up at a ranchers house.
Most
of the good birds of the trip were seen along this river in good
numbers. Yellow Grosbeak, Elegant Trogon, Happy Wren,
Rose-throated Becard, Blue Mockingbird,and
White-tipped Dove were abundant. If you bird the area for a while
you
should also come up with Black-throated Magpie Jay, White-throated
Robin,
Ruous-backed Robin, Sinaloa Wren, and Black-vented Oriole. A
Willow
Flycatcher seemed to be on location along he creek, giving its fitz-bew
call.
This would be south of their normal nesting area I would think.
The
path downstream is equally good birding but harder walking. The
ranch
house on the northwest side of the creek seemed deserted.

Continue on the gravel road from the bridge going north for another
3.0
miles until you come to the south edge of the town of Santa Rosa.
Stay
right on the gravel road which is on the east side and looking over the
town
of Santa Rosa. Proceed until you see a house which is white with
a
green colored painted strip base and a rock wall in front. Take
the
gravel road right going east toward the town of Trinidad, an old
mining,
almost ghost, town. Stay left at the red gate or you will end up
at
the airport. Yes they have an airport! Drive until you have
to
go right or left. continue left and go downhill to the town of
Trinidad.
Here I found the Elegant Quail quite easy to observe as they are used
to
people. They call from the old rock houses and walls throughout
the
town. Lesser Roadrunner, Streak-backed Oriole, White- throated
Robin,
and Sinaloa Wren were also noted here. This area was also very
good
in winter as it is sheltered with lots of weed seed for food and a
small
stream flowing through the town which provides a year round water
source.

If you had turned right instead of left about 1 mile before you get
to
Trinidad this road would continue on up the mountain to Mesa Grande and
then
on into Yecora. It would be easy to get lost with all of the
roads
going every which way and it would be best to go with someone who knows
the
way the first time. This route provides excellent birding most of
the
trip of about 25 miles. The road can be bad in winter.

KM260 Barranca at 5300 foot elevation:

Stopped here for an hour of birding and didn't see much except the
pair of Spotted Wrens. Mountain Trogons were calling in several
diferent directions. The first of many Blue Mockingbirds was seen
at this location.
A small flycatcher could have been a Flammulated Flycatcher but it was
just
too far away to confirm and could have been just another Dusky-capped
Flycatcher.
I advise others to keep an eye out for it. This would be quite
north
of its normal location.

KM266 across from a truck stop a cobble stone road
goes south
to El Campanero.

This will allow you to get to a high elevation rather quickly by
taking the rough stone road to the top of the mountain and the micro
relay towers. Always follow the stone road as there are many
gravel dusty logging roads which turn off from the main road.
High elevation birds will be found in this predominantly pine forest.

KM280 City of Yecora.

Three motels are located in this city if you are not camping.
They
are barely acceptable by US standards. Sometimes no water,
sometimes no electricity and always the barking dogs and
boomboxes. The King Motel
which has the office at the grocery store goes for $130 pesos.
The
Las Briesus (sp?) goes for $120 pesos. Birding around town was
not
good this trip but can be very good in the winter when the North
American migrants arrive. Yecora has a new Pemex station and a
good grocery store
where you can also get ice. A fair restaurant is close to the
grocery
store and the King motel. Most other necessities can be had in
Yecora
including tire and other minor repairs for the car.

Trip total, 135 species, 1 new lifer (Grey-crowned Woodpecker), 1
new state
record (?) (Eastern Kingbird) and 2 other Mexican birds, (Olive-sided
Flycatcher
and Common Nighthawk). A very successful trip.